Thanks to the magical invisibility cloak left to him by Harry's father, Hermione encountered no obstacles while sneaking out of the castle. However, as she passed the Great Hall, she caught a glimpse of Professor Pomfrey, who was animatedly chatting with Madam Pince, the librarian, at the staff table, and she urged softly, “Hurry up, Harry, Ron! Madam Pomfrey will be back at the hospital wing before ten, and I don’t want her to catch me not lying quietly in my sick bed!”

“You really don’t need to come in person, Hermione. We’ll tell you everything we find out from Hagrid,” Ron said, quickening his pace. He stared ahead as if nothing was amiss, and Harry nodded in agreement.

“Stop talking nonsense, you two,” Hermione said. As she stepped out of the castle door, the sudden bright light and refreshing breeze lifted her spirits significantly. Her orange-yellow cat-like eyes sparkled with excitement. “I was worried you both would forget everything Hagrid said before we left his hut!”

Halloween had passed some time ago, and because the large patch of pumpkin vines behind the hut had been cleared and covered with snow, Hagrid's little wooden house looked tidier than usual. When Harry and the others arrived, Hagrid was chopping down Christmas trees for the hall’s decorations.

This might be physical work for others, but for Hagrid, who stood about ten feet tall and had a waist five times that of an ordinary person, it was the simplest task. He just needed to lift the axe and let it drop gently, and each Christmas tree, about as thick as a bowl, would break into several pieces.

A black hound frolicking in the snow spotted Harry and the others first. It stood atop a snowdrift, barking joyfully at them. “Don’t bark, Fang, you just ate a whole chicken.” As he looked toward Fang, whose furry face was mostly hidden by its bushy beard, a smile broke across Hagrid’s face. “Oh, Harry, Ron! It’s you two!”

Hagrid waved his arms happily at Harry, who was struggling in two feet of snow. “This is odd, Harry. You usually like to sneak over to see me in the middle of the night wearing your invisibility cloak!”

“That’s because I have classes during the day, Hagrid!”

Oops! As Harry, supporting Hermione under the invisibility cloak, accidentally stepped into thin air, he fell to the ground, causing Hermione, who was unexpectedly pulled along, to shriek and roll with him. “Stop gawking, Hagrid! Come help us!”

“Oh my goodness!” Hermione suddenly appearing beside Harry and Ron made Hagrid freeze mid-step. “You brought me a cat person?!”

After a moment, Hagrid outside the hut let out a surprised exclamation. Hagrid’s room was as messy as ever. Inside the cramped wooden cabin, the ceiling was hung with hams and wild chickens, a copper kettle was boiling water in the hearth, and the patchwork quilt on the large bed in the corner was only darker in color than before.

“Please, Hagrid, don’t ask me why I look like this,” Hermione said as she sat on the edge of the bed and noticed Hagrid’s keen curiosity. She immediately retorted, “It was a nightmare, and I don’t want to talk about it!”

Ron laughed carelessly, and even Harry, who was worried, couldn’t help but smile.

“Alright, alright,” Hagrid said, shrugging regretfully. “I was just curious to know if it’s possible to experiment and cultivate a species like ‘cat people.’ Since you don’t want to share... oh, Fang, stop making that silly face! That’s Hermione, not a cat! You should be able to smell her!”

He took out a few cups and tossed in some dark tea leaves, preparing to brew hot tea for the three of them. However, the water on the stove still needed a while to boil. While they waited, Hagrid eagerly prepared some snacks he had made himself. “You don’t look very happy, Harry. Want some toffee?”

“Thanks, Hagrid, but I’m not really hungry...” Harry politely declined, having already experienced Hagrid’s cooking prowess multiple times. He exchanged glances with Ron and Hermione, and after a silent communication, Harry asked, “Actually, Hagrid, we came here today to ask about someone. We think you should know him.”

Hagrid chuckled as he poked the coals with his finger. Looking at Harry through the handle of the kettle, he said teasingly, “Who are you three trying to inquire about now, Harry... I should remind you, there’s no Philosopher’s Stone hidden in the castle this year!”

Well, there was indeed no Philosopher’s Stone, but there was an additional Chamber of Secrets! Harry thought to himself, his mood not improved by Hagrid’s joke.

“Amosta Breen, Hagrid. Have you heard of this person?” Given Hermione’s limited time, Harry cut straight to the chase.

“Amosta Breen?” Hagrid blinked in surprise. “Why are you bringing him up?”

“So you do know him?” Hermione immediately pressed, “Tell us about him, Hagrid! What do you know?”

Hagrid didn’t answer the question right away but instead looked at Ron curiously. “You don’t have any impression of Amosta Breen either, Ron?”

“I must have heard that name somewhere, but it doesn’t sound like something I heard from Dad. Hagrid, why do you think I know him?” Ron said, furrowing his brow, trying hard to remember.

“You must have heard of him, Ron,” Hagrid laughed. He lifted the boiling kettle from the stove and poured a cup of tea for the three of them. “He was a Slytherin student, in the same year as your brother Bill. He probably graduated over three years ago. I haven’t heard much about him in the past few years, but that’s not surprising; he was very introverted during school and didn’t like to draw attention to himself.”

“So, maybe Bill mentioned him to me before?” Ron still couldn’t recall that lost memory.

“Introverted?” Hermione’s tone was equally confused as she tried to recall the brief encounter from the night before. If she were to evaluate, Mr. Breen was overly friendly, completely unlike someone from Slytherin, but if he was introverted, that was hard to tell.

“Well... you could say he wasn’t very outgoing; at least, he was like that back then.” Because there were three more people in the room, Hagrid had to stand to speak.

“I hardly interacted with him, and all I know is hearsay... It’s said that Amosta Breen is an orphan who spent his childhood in an orphanage. You know, in Slytherin, children from orphan backgrounds are not likely to be welcomed, so in those first few years at Hogwarts, he faced a lot of disdain. If it weren’t for Professor Snape’s protection, his situation might have been even tougher.”

Hagrid’s memories of Amosta Breen were indeed limited, so he spoke slowly, but no one in the room urged him on, and even Ron gave up recalling, focusing intently on Hagrid.

“I heard from the professors that Breen was a very studious young wizard. He was polite when asking questions, and his grades were quite good... of course, he couldn’t compare to Bill or Percy or you back then.” Hagrid looked at Hermione and said, “--but you just couldn’t get close to him, as if he was intentionally keeping his distance from anyone. However, considering he was a Muggle-born orphan, the professors could understand his aloofness.”

“Sounds like a pretty ordinary person?” Ron frowned. “And he’s from Slytherin, so why have I heard his name from Bill... maybe Charlie?”

“This brings us to the fight he caused in the Forbidden Forest during his fifth year!” Hagrid downed his large tankard of water in one go, his bell-like eyes glimmering with astonishment. “Although that duel happened several years ago, I still can’t quite believe it when I think back on it!”

ps: Chapter Two before five o'clock.